Timothy Virts indicted for murder, kidnapping

4:52 PM, Apr 21, 2014

7:09 PM, Apr 21, 2014

Timothy Virts, the man police said was responsible for setting off an interstate Amber Alert for kidnapping his daughter, was formally indicted Monday in Circuit Court of Baltimore County for killing Bobbi Jo Cortez, the mother of his children.

Virts, 38, was picked up by police at a hotel in Florence, S.C. with his 11-year-old daughter after a harrowing three-day search across state lines.

Three days earlier, police signaled an expanded Amber Alert after Cortez’s body was found dead in her Dundalk home. Investigators within hours named Virts as a primary suspect in both Cortez's death and his daughter's disappearance.

Virts faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is found convicted of murdering Cortez.